It is known, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 06/592,041, file Mar. 21, 1984, entitled "Devices For Controlling Electrically Operated Appliances", to provide a controller for enabling a person with limited physical abilities to control an electrically operated machine such as a wheelchair or a typewriter. Such devices use a movable mouthpiece which provides an output signal in response to blowing or sucking air therethrough and position transducers connected to the mouthpiece for measuring the position of the mouthpiece in a plurality of planes.
However, persons with limited physical abilities such as a person with a high level of spinal cord injury, have differing capabilities as to their ability to blow or suck air, the extent and direction of their ability to move a mouthpiece, and their response time to control and operate the mouthpiece.
The controller of the present invention allows the operator to adjust and calibrate the controller to compensate for the operator's individual disabilities. The controller provides the advantage of permitting operators to use their available force and motion capabilities to operate an electrically operated machine. In addition, another feature is that the controller provides a single interface that is capable of interacting with more than one electrically operated machine and therefore represents a significant improvement over the many interfaces currently required to control multiple machines. For example, the operator may selectively operate a motorized wheelchair, a personal computer, a robot, or a music synthesizer.
Using the present invention, a person with very limited physical abilities can become adept at operating a wide range of electronic and electrical mechanical equipment. Without such a control system, physically disabled persons have very limited opportunities to perform vocational, leisure, and social activities autonomously.